Not the most creative artists, who turn overly familiar fare into music worth hearing.

Following are the best seasonal jazz recordings of new and recent vintage:

• Joel Paterson: “Hi-Fi Christmas Guitar” (Ventrella Records). Chicago guitarist Paterson has released one of the most disarming, joyous jazz recordings of this holiday season. As its retro title implies, “Hi-Fi Christmas Guitar” revivifies age-old Christmas tunes via a mid-20th century sensibility. But the overdubbing, reverb effects and clean-lined lyricism of this work sounds anything but old-fashioned. Paterson is joined by bassist Beau Sample and drummer Alex Hall in buoyant versions of “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” and “Winter Wonderland,” sweetly melodic accounts of “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” and “Silver Bells” and much more.

• “Christmas at Steinway Hall” (Steinway & Sons). Can a formidable concert pianist dispatch holiday repertoire without condescension? Apparently so, if the pianist is Simon Mulligan, who presents his solo, jazz-tinged arrangements of seasonal tunes. Mulligan treats songs such as “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” with the respect for craftsmanship they richly deserve but do not always receive. Each track on this recording has a character of its own, from the tonal radiance of “The Christmas Song” to the tintinnabulation of “Winter Wonderland” to the serenity of “O Holy Night.” The recording was made via Steinway’s Spirio player-piano technology, its sound landing quite gently on the ear. Most important, though, are the ingenuity of Mulligan’s arrangements and the seriousness of his interpretations.

• “These Christmas Days” (jasonpaulcurtis.com). Singer­ Jason Paul Curtis revels in big-band swing tradition, his baritone a pleasure to hear in up-tempo romps and slow-and-dreamy fare alike. Unlike many a holiday recording, however, “These Christmas Days” stands out because most of the songs are originals, Curtis proving himself a crafty writer within mainstream traditions. “Christmas Breakfast” captures the pleasures of a family scene on the holiday morning with plenty of rhythmic zip; “Came Winter” looks back lovingly on Christmases past; “I Want Snow,” with its echoes of “Cry Me a River,” dives into torch-song territory; and the title song ele­gantly intertwines holiday spirit and romance. In all, a tour de force of both singing and songwriting.

• Lucy Smith: “Singing Christmas” (Living Muse Songs). Chicagoan Lucy Smith goes to church in “Singing Christmas,” the singer digging deeply into the spiritual side of seasonal repertoire. The austere beauty of her version of “Silent Night,” the gospel fervor she brings to “Jesus Gonna Be Here” and the imploring quality of her singing in “Rise Up, Shepherd and Follow” explore the meaning of faith. The unadorned beauty of Smith’s work, as well as her inclusion of less-familiar repertoire, distinguish “Singing Christmas,” making it a testament to what the holiday signifies.